A MESSAGE FROM THE
SOVEREIGN GRAND COMMANDER

John Wm. McNaughton, 33°

Apple

The Apple Computer Company (stock ticker symbol APPL) was established in 1976 by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne and incorporated one year later. In 2007, the company removed the word computer from its name to accurately reflect its move into the consumer electronics business. During its formative years, there were many exciting new products and certainly many difficult times.

During the 1990s, on the verge of a severe downward business trend and crippling financial losses, Jobs sensed the need for Apple to change and redefine itself. Was Apple prepared for an envisioned turnaround? The short answer: yes, it had to make changes. In fact, Steve Jobs even partnered with an old business competitor, Bill Gates at Microsoft. Then in 1998, Apple unveiled a breakthrough product, the iMac computer which sold over 6 million units, thus saving the company’s future and helping to establish Jobs’ legacy.

As a result of these and other changes, Apple now boasts the second largest market capitalization (defined as its share price times the number of outstanding shares) of any company in the United States. Today, Apple might be described as a company in the middle of a visionary revolution. Perhaps one of the key elements that started this extraordinary change for Apple can be found in one of Steve Jobs’ classic presentations at an annual meeting of company stockholders. In his comments, Jobs said that Apple must “think differently and express that in our products.”

Consider for a moment the following quotation from Mr. Jobs and substitute the word “Freemasonry” for Apple. “When I hire really senior people, competence is the ante. They have to be really smart, but the real issue for me is whether or not they going to fall in love with Apple. If they fall in love with Apple, everything else will take care of itself. They’ll want to do what’s best for Apple, not what’s best for them.”

Certainly, the Masonic fraternity is a much different organization than Apple. We obviously have more members than Apple has employees. But, in order to prepare for the future, the Masonic fraternity must also have a revolutionary vision.

In preparation for this turnaround, our Masonic leaders must understand that we have to be focused on our most valuable asset – our members. The fraternity’s focus on the perfection of ritual by its Grand Officers (known in some circles as ritual police), charities which benefit the secular world at the expense of the needs of our own members, and our preoccupation with real estate issues are hardly the elements of a visionary revolution for any company, much less the Masonic fraternity.

Steve Jobs has been a very dynamic engineer and marketing guru. His real successes, however, have resulted from his practical skill in understanding why Apple had to change and to evolve.

As part of the development process of this revolutionary Masonic vision and the emphasis on the distinctive worth of each member, we might again draw wisdom from these words from Steve:

“Here’s to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in the square holes – the ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them, but the only thing you can’t do is ignore them because they change things. They push the human race forward, and while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius, because the ones who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world are the ones who do.”

Some day, members of the Masonic fraternity will look back at the beginning of the 21st century and realize there were visionary Masonic leaders who understood the need to change.

What exactly is that revolutionary vision for the Scottish Rite?

Individually, we must care about each other, and collectively, we must meet the fraternal needs of our members.

Will you be remembered as one of those visionaries of the 21st century?

To be continued . . .